This is the real thingy!! Born and raised in Little Italy, Taylor and Halsted Sts, family still has a Beef stand there, with Italian Lemonade, and deep dish Pizza!! shivers, ha!
This is a great recipe, but you need to make the roast the day before you want to serve it, it has to marinate in the
gravy overnight.
Chicago-Style Italian Beef Sandwiches
Makes 8 servings (it depends on how much you put in each sandwich, you may get 10)
Oven 325* at 25 minutes per pound
1 5 to 7 pound rump roast
2 cups of boiling water
2 bouillon cubes (beef flavor)
1 teaspoon each: dried marjoram, thyme and oregano
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or more if you like it hot, or use less if you like it more mild
salt and pepper to taste, go easy on the salt because the bouillon is salty!
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 or more garlic cloves, I use at least 6, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup, chopped green pepper
Italian or Vienna bread, French or any hard, crusty bread, you will need at least 2 loaves, slice down
the center, lengthwise, but not all the way through to the other side, then cut in serving size pieces.
Place roast on a rack, in an open roasting pan, I use an 9" X 13" baking pan with the rack in it. Pre-heat oven to
325*, allowing 25 minutes per pound, roast will be rare. Cool, and slice very thin, I use an electric slicer to do this.
To the drippings in the pan, add the boiling water, bouillon cubes or granules
(1 bouillon cube for each cup of boiling water used).
Add marjoram, thyme, oregano, hot pepper sauce, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, garlic cloves, and
chopped green pepper.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the thinly sliced beef and cover. Marinate in gravy in refrigerator overnight. Next
day, heat thoroughly, and serve warm on the French bread, along with a crisp, green salad and plenty of napkins!!!
Note: Our family loves the gravy so much that I usually double the gravy recipe so there is
plenty to dip the beef sandwich into. We also like to put a lot of gravy on the bread before adding the meat.
Some folks down here in Texas, add barbeque sauce to the sandwich before eating it, for a different flavor, not a
lot, just a touch, about 1 Tablespoon or less to taste.
I on the other hand believe that, if you do anything to the original Chicago recipe, lightning will
kill you on the spot...you may not believe that, but can you be sure? Yo! Carlo